The present invention relates to reusable handles to be used with bottles. More particularly, the invention relates to flexible handles useful for handling the plastic bottles in which soft drinks are sold. Such bottles typically have a flanged neck, and are typically sold in two or three liter sizes. These two and three liter size plastic bottles present handling problems for the consumer.
The weight and circumference of the bottles make them difficult to grasp and handle, particularly for children. Consequently, many children are unable to serve themselves drinks from the bottles. Even for adults with larger hands, the circumference of these bottles is great enough to make handling difficult. This problem is often exasperated when the bottle is wet, for the bottle then becomes slippery as well. Furthermore, the walls of such bottles are typically thin, and permit the bottle to collapse when the cap is off and pressure applied around the body during pouring.
Solutions have been proposed for handling such bottles. Such solutions have included, for example, pairs of rings joined by gripping portions, a tabbed ring to hold the bottle body with a second ring to hold the bottle neck joined by a gripping portion, a pair of tabbed rings joined by a gripping portion, and a handle attached to prehensile means. However, a need continues to remain for a handle which takes up minimum space in the refrigerator and on store shelves, which can accommodate variations in bottle body diameters, which is easy to place on and remove from the bottle, and which facilitates handling of such bottles.